


Right Hand Man

by flibbertygigget



Series: Until We End Slavery (Civil War AU) [2]
Category: American Civil War RPF, Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Civil War, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-11
Updated: 2016-01-11
Packaged: 2018-05-13 04:06:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 538
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5694091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flibbertygigget/pseuds/flibbertygigget
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Manassas, John Laurens was appointed as one of the General's aids.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Right Hand Man

John Laurens supposed he should have seen himself as lucky. After Manassas, when the celebration around him made John feel ill, he was quickly noticed by the General and appointed as one of his aides.

John Laurens couldn't see himself as lucky. He knew every plan, helped draft every request for food and supplies from the Confederate states, and was constantly in the presence of General George Washington, commander of the Confederate army. There was no chance for him to flee as he had planned. If he had thought that reaching out with his handgun and shooting General Washington in the head would help the Union cause, he would have done it in a heartbeat, but Laurens wasn't nieve. He knew that war would continue even after Washington's death,  perhaps with even greater fury because of the knowledge of a Union snake hiding among the General's aides. There was no choice but to bide his time.

"Sir," he said one late night when the General appeared in his doorway with a dripping candle, "do you need me?" Washington looked... worn down, tired.

"Do you know why I chose you to be one of my aides?" Laurens shook his head. "It was because I know that we cannot win."

"You can't be serious, sir," Laurens said, because that was what the good Confederate soldier said. Washington gave him a slightly sorrowful look.

"Any hope of success is fleeting," he said. "We are outgunned and outmanned. I could see in your eyes that you knew that to be true, even in the flinch of victory after Manassas. I needed someone with that insight, that practicality to be my right hand man."

"Thank you, sir," Laurens said. Washington sighed. "Is that all, sir?"

"Do you love our Confederacy, son?" the General said.

"I love South Carolina, sir," Laurens said carefully. It was true, in a way. South Carolina was everything he had ever known. No matter how much he despised the institution that made his state run as it did, there were loyalties that ran deeper than the contempt. He wished to fix his state, not abandon it.

"Ah, that is the crux of the problem," Washington mused. "Did you know that Lincoln himself offered me the position of head of the Union army?" Laurens shook his head. "Were it not for Virginia's secession, I have no doubt that I would have eventually given in and taken the position. It is strange the things that loyalty will make us do, is it not?" He sighed again. "Sometimes I wish that I could be stronger." Laurens' mouth felt dry. He knew that Washington was dangerously close to voicing something dark and hidden, something that dwelled in both of them. It was a seed that, if nurtured, could consume the nation that the South was creating.

"Why are you telling me this, sir?" Laurens asked cautiously. Washington opened his mouth, but then he closed it firmly and instead patted Laurens' leg beneath the quilt.

"You... you should sleep," he said, slowly leaving the room, leaving the door open a crack. Laurens was left alone with his swirling thoughts, trying to combat his admiration for the General with his disgust for his-  _their_ cause.

**Author's Note:**

> A few notes:
> 
> \-- Manassas here refers to the First Battle of Manassas, more commonly known as First Battle of Bull Run, the first major battle of the Civil War and a Confederate victory. More info [ here ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Battle_of_Bull_Run).
> 
> \-- Washington here is replacing General Robert E. Lee, who was the head of the Confederate army and also very anti-slavery. He would have never been head of the Confederate army if his state, Virginia, hadn't decided to secede from the Union. More info [ here ](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_E._Lee).


End file.
